RUSTON, La. -
A late rally to send the game to extra innings would not hold up as Nevada scored two in the top of the 10th to take a 7-5 victory in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader at J.C. Love Field, thereby eliminating Louisiana Tech from contention for the WAC Tournament.

Tech (20-26, 5-20 WAC) is now mathematically eliminated having lost twice this weekend and did not get any help with a pair of New Mexico State victories. Nevada (27-19, 14-9 WAC) remains in contention for the WAC title with the win today.

Andrew Lassere's (1-3) performance most certainly did not deserve to end in defeat as he pitched eight-plus innings in relief, giving up just two runs on seven hits while striking out five. It was the longest outing of the senior's career. Dylan Moseley got the start but was controversially ejected in the second inning after giving up four runs in an inning-plus.

Things got off to a very rocky start as the Wolf Pack plated two runs in the first inning to take an early lead. A pair of errors by the Bulldogs did not help matters, but Moseley was able to get out of a jam, leaving the bases loaded.

But it went from bad to worse in the second. After a leadoff home run from Nick Leid to give the Wolf Pack a 3-0 lead, Moseley was ejected after hitting the next batter on a 1-0 count. Tech head coach Wade Simoneaux protested to no avail, and Lassere would replace Moseley. The lefthander would promptly be called for a balk, leading to more protest from the Bulldog skipper, and then a Shaun Kort double put the Wolf Pack up 4-1.

From then on, it was mostly a pitcher's duel until the sixth when Jericho Jones led off with a solo home run to put the `Dawgs on the board.

An inning later, Tech would pull within a run after three straight singles loaded the bases for Nick Grunenwald. He would ground into a double play, but a run would score to make it 4-2. Kevin Winn would then hit a grounder to the right of the Wolf Pack second baseman whose throw was in the dirt and mishandled by the first baseman, allowing Kersten to score from third to make it 4-3. Grunenwald would then steal second and advance to third when the catcher's throw sailed into center field when no one covered the bag. Jones, however, would fly out to right to end the threat.

Nevada would get one back in the eighth after a double from Jason Sadoian put runners at second and third with one out. A sacrifice fly from Matt Bowman would bring in a run to make it 5-3, but that would be all the Wolf Pack would get.

That would not last long. Albie Goulder took the second pitch he saw over the right-center wall for a solo home run, pulling the `Dawgs back to within a run at 5-4 and chasing Nevada starter Brock Stassi. After a double down the line by Drew Bunting, Chris Juneau would pinch run and advance to third on a passed ball. Matt Combs would then work a full count and foul off several pitches before lacing a clutch single to right to score Juneau and tie the game at 5-5.

After both teams failed to score in the ninth, the teams headed to extra innings, the second such game for Tech this season. But the tie would not last as a leadoff double was followed by an RBI single from Leid to score Kevin Rodland, giving Nevada a 6-5 lead. A few batters later, a sacrifice fly from Kort would make it 7-5, and the Bulldogs went in order in the bottom of the 10th.

The teams will play the final game of the series at approximately 5:30 p.m.